I think then we Millenials should take over at some point...people cant focus and stop being emotional. All there is, is money. Nothing is because of any other reason. Or is there? It is allways a backend and front end. Hitler was front end. Of course, killing millions of Jews was not an economic activity. It was among the biggest crimes of history. What about the back end? Was there a military complex financing this war? For sure. Is war always a game-theoretic thing? No. They start it, with mad reasons and then an economic equilibrium kicks in and both sides exploit the situation to make as much money as possible.
People confuse expenses with expenses. Afghanistan was highly expensive for taxpayers but profitable for the lobbies on both sides: Sovjet and USA/Europe. Was it cooperative? No, but it was a WIN/WIN. So the fact that it was economically expensive is not proof that it was a noble act just for humanitarian reasons. And your nothing but right: as long as taxpayer's money is centralized and free to spend they will spend it on war, they will spend it on concentration camps, they will spend whatever their sic minds can come up with.